TCAF Admin

E.H. Norman Speaker Series

Manga from Canada! Canadian Comics, Publishing and International Exchange

Seventeen Canadian comic artists will visit Japan to present their unique creative work to a Japanese audience. Canada has a diverse array of comic book writers and illustrators with a wide variety of styles and artistic approaches to creating comics, BD, and international manga. This event will showcase Canadian comics and comic artists, followed by a short on-stage presentation by Toronto Comic Arts Festival Artistic Director Christopher Butcher and Quebec BD Director Thomas-Louis Cote on the strong points of Canadian comic art and comic publishers. We will then have an on-stage discussion (in English with Japanese translation) between Canadian and Japanese comic creators. Throughout the evening, original artworks from The Toronto Comic Arts Festival will be on display along with works by Canadian Comic and BD artists!

Exhibitor Applications are now open for the 2019 Vancouver Comic Arts Festival (VanCAF). VanCAF 2019 takes place on Saturday May 18th and Sunday May 19th, 2019, at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre in Vancouver.

May 13, 2018 | The winners of the 14th annual Doug Wright Awards, recognizing the best work and most promising talent in Canadian comics, were announced Saturday evening at a ceremony in Toronto. One of this year’s winners is a multiple Doug Wright Award nominee, and all three took home awards for the first time.

Crawl Space, by Jesse Jacobs (a six-time Wright Award nominee) won the 2018 Doug Wright Best Book Award. Crawl Space, published by Koyama Press, is a surreal story of adolescence. The judges said of this year’s winner:

One part John Hughes and one part Terrence McKenna, Crawl Space transforms the common corners of a suburban adolescence into a cosmic philosophical landscape. It flies high with masterful visual storytelling, and a mind-bending drawing style all the while staying grounded in its gentle humor and pathos. It’s a book that’s hard not to love.

First-time nominee Jenn Woodall was the winner of the 2018 Doug Wright Spotlight Award (also known as “The Nipper”). The Nipper is presented to a Canadian cartoonist (or writer/artist team) deserving of wider recognition. Woodall was nominated on the merit of her books Magical Beatdown Vol. 2 and Worrywart, of which the judges said:

Worrywart was uniquely vulnerable and relatable, and we loved seeing the protagonist contend with anxiety as a tangible character that never leaves. Magical Beatdown deploys violence in a very satisfying way, and that, coupled with Jenn’s gorgeous illustrative style made this book a clear winner.

First-time nominee Sami Alwani’s book The Dead Father was awarded the 2018 Pigskin Peters Award, presented to the most experimental, unconventional or avant-garde comic of the year. In their comments about Alawani’s debut comic the judges said:

Alwani explores the pressures and obligations of our arbitrary circumstances and the anxiety that comes inherent in every opportunity. Alwani’s debut leaves us with great expectations for his future work, the irony of which is clear in his story of poor Baby Alwani, who seems both deserving and devastated by the expectations of his father and a clamoring, rabid throng of reporters.

This year’s inductee to the Giants of the North Canadian cartoonist hall of fame, which celebrates creators who have made a life-long contribution to the field, is Duncan Macpherson (1924–1993). Macpherson was inducted into the Giants hall of fame by Terry “Aislin” Mosher, and accepted om his behalf by his son, Ian Macpherson.

Born in Toronto, Macpherson served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. He studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Art and the Ontario College of Art, and his work appeared in the Montreal Standard, and, most famously, the Toronto Star. Mosher, referred to Macpherson as “the king of the third wave” of Canadian editorial cartoonists. He was awarded multiple National Newspaper Awards, his work has been displayed at the Ontario Art Gallery, and he was the first cartoonist to ever become a member of the Order of Canada. He died, in Beaverton, Ontario, in 1993.

A feature event of the Toronto Comics Arts Festival, the 14th annual Doug Wright Awards took place in the High Park Ballroom of the Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel. They were hosted by Dustin Harbin, and featured live drawing by R. Sikoryak.

Finalists for this year’s awards were chosen from nearly 100 works published during the 2017 calendar year. The jury for the 14th annual Doug Wright Awards included: Bo Doodley, a Toronto-based artist; Jim Munroe, a writer, producer, and creator of games, comics, movies and novels, living in Toronto; Marc Nui, a Windsor, Ontario–based sequential artist and speculative designer; and Pamela Marie Pierce, a multi-disciplinary visual artist and illustrator whose work has appeared in Heavy Metal, based in Saint John, New Brunswick. The Pigskin Peters Award was chosen by the nominating committee, which this year consisted of Adrian Doran, Alex Hoffman, Betty Liang, and Conan Tobias.

NBM Graphic Novels is enthusiastically once again attending The Toronto Comics Art Festival, the massive, FREE two-day exhibition held at the Toronto Reference Library on Saturday, May 12 and Sunday, May 13 and can be found at Table #133.

Publisher Terry Nantier will be on hand for the company and he’ll be joined by David B, one of France’s finest cartoonists and a co-founder of the legendary L’Association collective, who is attending TCAF as a Featured Guest.

David B is attending TCAF in support of his new graphic novel from NBM, Hasib & the Queen of Serpents, which will debut at the show and he will be both signing at the NBM Booth and appearing on several panels.

Heir to the wise Daniel, Hâsib is a young woodcutter promised to a great future. When his greedy companions abandon him in the middle of the forest, he meets the Queen of the serpents. She then tells her story, a fabulous adventure filled with gods and demons, princes and prophets. We find Prince Janshah madly in love with Shamsa, the bird woman of King Solomon. Love and perjury, epic battles and giant spiders ensue… From Kabul to Cairo, journeys intertwine with intrigues and spiritual quests while the fabulous nights follow one another. An enchanting and intricately designed interpretation of the story of Hâsib Karîm ad-Dîm, through which fragment of the giant tale David B. opens us the gates of the Thousand and One Nights. For mature readers.

Also premiering at TCAF is Niki de Saint Phalle: The Garden of Secrets from creators Dominique Osuch and Sandrine Martin.

Niki de Saint Phalle knew art could save the world because art saved her… from madness, from violence. Even from herself. A comics biography of the famous and controversial contemporary pop-style artist.

Also appearing at TCAF will be Julian Voloj (Ghetto Brother) who will be be premiering his comic biography, The Joe Shuster Story, from our sister company, Papercutz. In addition, he’ll be signing at the NBM booth and will be participating on a panel. (Details here!)

David B – Panels and Signing Schedule

Saturday

11:00 AM:BD Today – Contemporary French ComicsHigh Park Ballroom 2/3 (Marriott)
The best-selling French comics sell 5x better than English comics in North America. That’s millions and millions of copies! Sacré Bleu! Join some of the most critically acclaimed voices in French comics to talk about what makes the French comics scene so magical, and what exciting books and artists we should keep our eyes out for. Featuring Yvan Alagbé, David B, Brigitte Findakly, Julie Rocheleau, and Lewis Trondheim. Moderated by Bart Beatty.

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM:Signing – NBM Table (#133)

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM:Signing – NBM Table (#133)

Sunday

12:00 PM: Personal Boundaries: Changing Shape of MemoirBeeton Auditorium (1st Floor, Library)What is the power of personal narratives when tweets, instagram photos, and snapchats are increasingly changing the norms of sharing personal information? Does the longer narrative of memoir become more relevant,a break from the bombardment of social media? Or will it soon be dismissed by readers who want more immediacy from a glowing screen? Featuring memoirist David B, Georgia Webber, Marguerite Dabaie, and Karl Steven. Moderated by Irene Velentzas.

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM:Signing – NBM Table (#133)

3:00 PM: Literally Illustrated ClassicsBeeton Auditorium (1st Floor, Library)
What are the specific challenges artists face when adapting a beloved work into a graphic novel? Emily Carrol, David B, Meaghan Carter and Ron Wimberly discuss how to honour the original while bringing something new to it, and updating and reworking problematic aspects of older work to bringit up to the standard of a contemporary audience. Moderated by Megan Kearney.

Coming to TCAF this weekend? You’re in for a treat, because we have some AMAZING exclusive items and giveaways for you! All items will be available in Page & Panel: The TCAF Shop, and the Inio Asano items will also be available at the second floor Beguiling Table.

As part of Hockey Noir (tickets on sale now), the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Continuum Music, and ECM+ were donated authentic signed Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys signed by #16 Mitch Marner and #34 Auston Matthews! These signed jerseys — each from their record-setting rookie seasons — also come with a certificate of authenticity, a signed & framed photo, and a Maple Leafs drawstring knapsack!

Raffle tickets will be sold at the TCAF INFO Desk on the first floor of the Toronto Reference Library during Saturday May 12 (9am to 5pm) and Sunday May 13 (10am to 5pm). The draw will take place Monday May 14th, and winners will be contacted by phone.

The tickets will be sold at 1 ticket for $5 or 3 tickets for $10 and all proceeds will go directly to support the production of Hockey Noir.

SPRING: The Elephant in the Room Exhibition@ Toronto Reference Library, 3rd FloorRunning May 12 to May 26.

Presented with the support of The Goethe Institut Toronto and Toronto Reference Library

Romy Blümel

In Spring 2016, eight German cartoonists from the all-woman collective SPRING travelled to Nitryagram in southern India to meet their cartooning colleagues and to create a joint issue of their comics anthology magazine. That work, SPRING: The Elephant in the Room, contains the stories of 16 women reflecting on their lives and how they live., the roles women take on and the decisions they make. It contains shorter and longer stories, some more detailed, some more abstract, but ultimately it is the similarties rather than the differences that abound in this work.

For the exhibition at TCAF, whole stories and short excerpts of the Spring #13 will be displayed, and one of the participating artists, Stephanie Wunderlich, will be in attendence for both days of TCAF, seated adjacent to the exhibit. Copies of SPRING magazine will be made available for sale Saturday and Sunday during TCAF at Stephanie’s table, and afterwards at Page & Panel: The TCAF Shop.

The 2018 Toronto Comic Arts Festival is rapidly approaching, and while we’ve got our great interactive events listing up and running, sometimes you just want to know what’s happening in one, quick list! In that spirit, here’s a listing of all of the TCAF 2018 off-site and special events, with facebook and website links when available. This is complete as of May 6th, 2018, but we will update if new info comes in.